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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Most teachers I know like the schedule because it allows them to be there for their kids for much of the summer. On the other hand, it’s not such a perk that it’s keeping them from leaving.[/quote]

+1, I also know teachers without kids who like it because it allows them to take longer vacations in the summer. I have a friend who teaches and she does foreign travel every summer. She's considered changing fields because there are things about teaching she doesn't like, but she's really reluctant to give up the ability to go abroad for a full month -- if you love foreign travel but don't have a ton of money, it's a much more economical way to do it because you only buy the plane tickets once and then you can visit multiple countries and cities.

So in her case, I guess sit is a perk that keeps her from leaving. She's also a 15 yr veteran in a district that pays well though, and has a good pension. [b]I think the teacher shortage is really most acute places where teachers are paid poorly.[/b] Teachers in most DMV districts actually make pretty good money, especially if they put in some years to reach the highest pay step, and/or are willing to work in Title 1 schools, which many are. I know teachers in this area who make around 140k plus will qualify for a full pension in their 50s. Even in a high COL area like this, that's really not bad at all. Especially if you are married to someone with a similar or better income.

I get why teachers quit, it's a tough job and doesn't get enough respect. It's also my impression that many schools and districts are just incredibly poorly run, and no matter what field you're in, working for dysfunctional organizations wears you down over time. It's my impression that at least in the DMV, job dissatisfaction among teachers is driven by stuff like hating curriculum changes or bad administration, much more so than low pay or annoying parents. The pay is not that low and, tbh, if you are in the DMV at a school where the parents are involved enough to be annoying, you probably recognize that the alternative is a school with little to know parental involvement, which is generally a lot harder.[/quote]

Those areas were facing teacher shortages before the pandemic.

The DC area is facing increasingly worse teacher shortages since the pandemic.   
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/09/dc-area-schools-teacher-resignations/

[i][b]In most D.C.-area districts, more teachers resigned during the 2022-2023 school year than in the term prior, data shows[/b]. Alexandria saw 325 teachers leave last year, compared with 212 in 2021-2022. More than 500 teachers left Loudoun County Public Schools last year, up from 339 in the school year prior. In Prince George’s County, officials counted 1,126 resignations between July 2022 and this July — the district last year reported losing 989 teachers between June 2021 and July 2022.
In Maryland’s largest school system — Montgomery County Public Schools — 625 teachers have resigned since the start of the 2022-2023 school year, which is about 2.4 percent of the total workforce. In 2021-2022, 576 teachers resigned their positions, The Washington Post previously reported.[/i]

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1108-8.html
&gt; Teachers reported better well-being in January 2023 than in 2021 and 2022, and rates of job-related stress have returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, [b]teachers continue to report worse well-being than the general population of working adults.[/b]

&gt; [b]Twenty-three percent of teachers said that they were likely to leave their job by the end of the 2022–2023 school year. [/b]Of these teachers, those who reported poor well-being were more likely than their counterparts to say that they intended to leave.[b] Stress and disappointment of the job, salary, and number of working hours were the top reasons teachers intended to leave.[/b]

&gt; Among the 77 percent of teachers who were unlikely to leave their job by the end of the 2022–2023 school year,[b] their ability to positively affect students and positive relationships with students and other teachers were the top reasons they intended to stay.[/b]

Takeaway: be nice to the teachers who are staying because they are there for your kids
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